Environment

Regulatory, environmental and social risks and impacts are assessed alongside commercial and technical considerations to inform impact assessments and decision making on MEPAU major projects and managing existing Operations.

MEPAU is required to obtain a number of regulatory approvals before the commencement of projects and in order to carry out any operations. The key government departments that assess the environmental impacts of our activities are the Department of Energy, Mining, Industry Regulation and Safety (DEMIRS) and the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER).

We also consult with stakeholders and subject matter experts to help develop our plans and inform our approach.

Health, Safety and Environment Management System

We set environmental commitments in our Health, Safety and Environment Policy and conduct periodic reviews of the progress and processes. Our Health, Safety and Environment Management System (HSEMS) ensures a common systematic approach across all activities and provides a framework to design, implement and continually improve our environmental performance. The HSEMS consists of policies, elements, guidelines, procedures and tools that are effectively implemented across all activities.

MEPAU commits to comply with laws and regulations, to prevent environmental risks including those related to climate change. MEPAU embeds environmental and biodiversity management, and opportunities, in our business planning and decision-making processes, to assess the impact of both existing activities and new business investments.

Compliance with Laws and Regulations

Our efforts to meet our corporate social responsibilities and keep pace with the expansion of those responsibilities include the creation of compliance assurance mechanisms based on our HSEMS. We also use training programs and other methods to ensure that our employees understand and comply with various environmental laws and regulations in Australia and overseas.

Read our Waitsia Stage 2 environmental management plans and reports here

Environment

Public engagement underpins the sustainable development of the energy sector

Stakeholder engagement must underpin energy sector development to ensure its sustainability. Before MEPAU begins substantial work on major projects or existing facilities, it will assess regulatory, environmental and social impacts alongside commercial and technical considerations. This process includes environmental and social assessments to help understand and manage risks and opportunities.

In undertaking its operations, MEPAU consults with local landowners, Traditional Owners, communities, governments and environmental experts to help develop our plans and inform our approach.

MEPAU is required to obtain a number of regulatory approvals before the construction of projects can commence and in order to carry out any operations. The key government departments that assess the environmental impacts of our activities are the Department of Mining, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) and the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER).

Greenhouse Gas Management

Pioneering fully offset reservoir emissions

The Waitsia Stage 2 Project was assessed under the EPA’s Environmental Factor Guideline – Greenhouse Gas Emissions 2020, and an implementation condition of the approved project was to implement a Greenhouse Gas Management Plan (GHGMP).

As part of the submission of a GHGMP, MEPAU offered to fully offset all reservoir greenhouse gas emissions from Waitsia Stage 2. MEPAU is the first West Australian onshore gas project to have this condition.

The key provisions of the GHGMP require the management and reduction of contribution to state GHG concentrations from emissions through:

Application of mitigation hierarchy and review and adoption of reasonable and practicable measures to mitigate Proposal Emissions;
Establishing Proposal baseline emissions and maintain emissions within the agreed baseline, to comply with the Commonwealth Safeguard Mechanism;
Implementing GHG monitoring and reporting in accordance with the Commonwealth National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007;
Summarising design choices to demonstrate that all reasonable and practicable measures have been applied to avoid, reduce and offset a Proposal’s Emissions over the life of the proposal;
Ongoing monitoring and preventative maintenance to minimise fugitive emissions of natural gas;
Ongoing monitoring and preventative maintenance to ensure that emissions remain within the agreed baseline for the Proposal;
Reforestation by environmental or mallee plantings (FullCAM);
Adaptive management through five yearly review of reasonable and practicable measures to mitigate GHG emissions in response to developments in Commonwealth and State policies, markets, technology and regional infrastructure (Adaptive Management Review).

Environment

Environment

Health, Safety and Environment Management System

Compliance with Laws and Regulations

Public engagement underpins the sustainable development of the energy sector

Pioneering fully offset reservoir emissions

Greenhouse Gas Management Plan

Reporting & public information

Greenhouse Gas Annual Emissions Report